SUPER Easy Poached Tilapia

poach

–verb (used with object)

to cook (eggs, fish, fruits, etc.) in a hot liquid that is kept just below the boiling point.

 

When I originally went in search of “poached tilapia”, I was looking for the definition.  However, I ran across dozens of recipes for it instead, and they were all much more involved than mine.  Mine was sitting on the stove, already finished & waiting to be devoured by my family.  So that’s why I named this SUPER EASY Poached Tilapia, because seriously, how much easier can you get than this?

I’ve written before about one particular ingredient that I keep in my pantry.  I’m sure there may be other more expensive, more “gourmet” options, but if I find something I like, I tend to stick with it. 

Such is the case with the Goya Salad & Vegetable Seasoning . I've used it for years now, but I'd never tried it on meat. After all, it DOES say salad & vegetable! But I decided to be a rebel.

Here’s all you need:

1 c. water

1 packet Goya Salad & Vegetable Seasoning

You choice of fish – preferably thin fillets

In a skillet, dissolve 1 packet of the Goya Salad & Vegetable Seasoning in the 1 cup of water.  Bring it to a boil, then lower the heat to medium.

Place fish filets in a single layer in the pan and cook until the fish are flaky with a fork.  Seriously – that’s IT.  10 minutes, your dinner is ready!!! 

I’d taken photos of the recipe, but honestly – they just show fish in a pan. LOL

Don’t boil the fish – just cook it slowly.  Serve with a salad and some kind of yummy vegetable and call it a night!

Baked Squash w/Apples

As I’ve mentioned a time or three before, I LOVE Fall squash season!  There’s just so many varieties of squash and ways to cook them, and they’re all SO YUMMY!

I recently took advantage of some great sales on Delicata squash, which some call the sweet potato squash.  They’re small, delicious and easy to handle and cook quickly.  I’d also bought a bushel of apples (York) and the two just sort of came together.

I began with 4 Delicata squash and approximately 4-5 apples, some butter.

• 4 Delicata squash
• 4-5 apples – peeled, cored and chopped
• 2 Tbs. flour
• 2 Tbs. butter, melted
• 2 Tbs. brown sugar

1. Begin by washing the outside of your squash. It has, afterall, been living in the ground for the last 5-6 months or so.  Once they’re washed, take the tip of a sharp knife and pierce the side of the squash.  CAREFULLY, split the squash lengthwise.
2. Use a spoon to scrape out the inside pulp and seeds. 
3. Poke holes into the flesh of the squash but try not to pierce all the way through to the outside.
4. In a separate bowl, the apples with the flour just to coat them.
5. 
   Sprinkle the brown sugar over the mixture, and then add the melted butter to the mix – toss again (gently). You should guard against unauthorized taste-testing – it can be hazardous to your dinner!
6. In a foil-lined baking dish, place the squash cut side up. Spoon the apples into each half of the squash and then sprinkle with cinnamon.
7. Bake at 350°F for 30-40 minutes or until you can easily sink your fork through the squash.
8. Enjoy!

 

*Note: The final photo does not do this delicious dish justice!  The beautiful squash melts into a gorgeous color, the apples actually crisp up – just fabulous!!!

This dish is perfect to make beforehand for the upcoming holidays.  You can do this the day before, then just keep them covered until the big day – just throw them back in the oven or microwave!

Holiday traditions – giveaway!!!

Gobble Gobble,

The holiday season conjures up many feelings - joy, nostalgia, sentiment, and the desire to carry on past traditions and create new ones.

Often times, holiday hosts will adorn their Thanksgiving tables with treasured family heirlooms like Great-Grandma’s gravy boat, Papa’s Silver Carving Platter, or China received as a wedding gift – each with its own precious memory. 

Yet, many hosts also want to infuse their own unique personality into their celebrations and look for creative ways to make guests feel just as warm and welcome as the celebration itself.

MyPunchbowl.com, the leader in start to finish party planning, offers FREE online Thanksgiving invitations that will immediately engage the recipient and generate such excitement and anticipation, they’ll think they can already smell the turkey roasting!   And remember, the etiquette pros always say to send invitations out a month in advance!

Here is just a small sample of the FREE online invitations for Thanksgiving:

I love the turkey one!  But they also have tons where you upload your OWN photo to include on the invitation. Being a photography LOVER, that’s a great feature.

Who wouldn’t love to receive a warm, welcoming online Thanksgiving invitation to join in the celebration?

A MyPunchbowl.com membership is absolutely free and offers a huge array of standard invitations templates and eCards for any celebration or occasion.  They have everything you need from online invitations to party supplies, personalized favors and much more.

And online invitations save times, money, the environment, and, let’s face it, your writing hand!!

And of course, because this IS a recipe blog, some recipes!  This first one isn’t going to wait for Thanksgiving Day, I’ll tell you!

Cinnamon Apple Muffins for Thanksgiving Day Breakfast

Muffin or cupcake liners
1 ½ cups flour
1 ½ tsp. of baking powder

¾ cup of sugar

1.5 tsp. of baking powder

1 tsp. of ground cinnamon

½ of a cup of whole milk

1/3 of a cup of melted butter

1 egg

1 cup of peeled, cored and diced Granny Smith apples

1 cup of cinnamon chips

To make: stir the flour, sugar, baking powder and cinnamon together in a medium-sized bowl. Add the milk, butter, egg, apples and cinnamon chips next, stirring together until the mixture is smooth. Fill each muffin liner about 2/3 full, then bake in a 365 degree oven for about 20 minutes. Allow the muffins to cool for at least 5 minutes before serving them.

Non-Alcoholic Thanksgiving Cranberry Punch

2 Bottles of chilled cranberry juice
2 Containers of lemonade or orange juice concentrate
1 Bottle of chilled Sprite, Ginger Ale or seltzer water

Cranberry Pomegranate Thanksgiving Punch

2 bottles of cranberry pomegranate juice
1 container of orange juice concentrate
1 bottle of flavored seltzer water
Vodka, Grain Alcohol or Rum to taste
Garnish: slices of fresh fruit oranges, lemons and limes

What’s your favorite holiday tradition?

One lucky reader will receive a PREMIUM MEMBERSHIP UPGRADE!  All you do to enter is:

• Tell me your favorite holiday tradition.  Be sure to include your email address so I can contact you!
• If you’d like extra entries, tweet up this post. Use a seperate comment to let me know you’ve done it.
• Buzz me!  Visit my Food Buzz profile (click on that button up on the right corner) and view my recipes there. Buzz up the ones that you like :)
• Become a fan on Facebook, a follower on here, subscribe to my feed.  You know the deal :)  Just be sure to leave an entry for each thing that you do.
• ENTRIES THAT DO NOT INCLUDE EMAIL ADDRESS WILL BE DISQUALIFIED.

Winners will be chosen by random.org on November 13th!

I’m a Foodie Mama!

Hey, check meout! I’m on Foodie Mama’s front page with my winter squash article.  Go reaaaad it! :)

I'm famous now!

Holidays are coming!

I am writing this  on all my blogs in order to reach a large audience.

As some of you may know, we are a homeschooling family of 3 kids. I was thinking that it would be a fun geography lesson for at least the 2 oldest ones if we could organize a holiday card and/or ornament exchange with people from around the world - or at least the ones that respond to my plea. :)

I figured what we'd do is, each day that we got a card and/or ornament from a new person, we'd research that area that day. It'd be a great way to "meet" some of my facebook/blogging buddies, as well as to introduce my kids to different areas of the country and world without TOO much hassle.

In return, we'd be happy to return a card and/or ornament to you as well!

If this is something you'd be able to do, please contact me via email (dawniemom at gmail.com) so we can work out details, addresses, etc. The more, the merrier!

Thanks,
Dawn :)

Happy Fall, Y'all!

I know- I'm all Paula Dean now, right? I love Paula. I covet Paula. I want to make sweet, sweet pancakes with Paula.

ahem.

Anyway, I wanted to let you know that I haven't actually fallen off the face of the Earth. Just to West Virginia. I joke, I joke. Seriously, though, we did MOVE to West Virginia a few weeks ago, and before that, we spent a ridiculously huge amount of time and money hunting for a place to live in West Virginia. Why West Virginia? Because it's one of the only states that I mess up EVERY SINGLE TIME I TYPE IT.

Oh - and because hubby FINALLY got a job, and it happens to be in (can you guess?)


.......drumroll please.............

Maryland.

Ha! Almost had you there, didn't I?

Ok, so Maryland is more expensive to live in, so we're in WEST VIR GIN IA. There, I didn't screw it up that time. I know, I know - it's way easier to just type WV - but then the tens of thousands of NON-USA'er fans/followers/stalkers would have NO idea what WV is and would be all "wtf is WV?" so I suffer and type West Virignia. Crap. (see what I mean???)



In any case, it's FALL! I love Fall. I love the smells and sights of Fall. I especially love the foods of Fall. Squash & apples - apples & squash. Everywhere you look, everywhere you go, you'll see squash & apples for sale. Here in West VIR GIN IA, they have apple orchards and peach orchards seemingly on every corner (well - mostly). We visited a 1,000 acre farm this past weekend, and we were AMAZED at all that they had to offer. I swear, they grow every fruit possible. We picked our own raspberries - IN SEPTEMBER! We picked our own GRAPES! (We didn't like the grapes though - blech!) We did not, however, pick our own apples. For some odd reason, that wasn't an option. The website says their apple season starts next week
end, and so maybe then we'll go back and get our OWN apples.





I've NEVER had fresh raspberries that tasted this good, I literally ate them off the plant. Never! The ones I've bought in the market have always been too sour/bitter. These things - these little baby bundles of berry goodness - I could have just eaten them all - every single one!

We wound up picking 2 pints of berries - which they charge by the pound for, and wound up spending $3.47! In the market, we'd have spent about $10 for them!

Ok, so enough about the raspberries, I know. But still!


I just wanted to let you guys know that I'm back - I've already got a new post brewing in my head for a recipe celebrating Fall, too! I'll have that up soon. In the meantime,

Revisiting Turkey Pomodoro

I first made turkey pomodoro back in 2006, when I was following my low-carb diet. I even wrote in my original blog post that it was simply FANTASTIC. So I have no idea why I haven’t made it since! But when I was rifing through the freezer the other day, I found I had a package of turkey tenderloin and remembered this recipe – decided to revisit it.
Turkey Pomodoro

• 2 Tbs. whole-wheat flour
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• salt & pepper to taste
• 4 turkey tenderloins, sliced 1/2” thick
• 1 Tbs. olive oil
• 1/2 c. chicken broth
• 1/2 c. white wine
• 2 Tbs. lemon juice
• 1/2 c. tomatoes, chopped
• 2 Tbs. fresh chopped basil
• 1 Tbs. butter

As I was preparing this, now that I have to follow a low-fat diet, I knew I might have to make some adjustments to the original recipe – so for me, I only used 1 Tbs. of butter, and maybe only 1/2 Tbs. olive oil – but it still came out wonderfully.

In a large ziplock-type bag, I combined the 2 Tbs. of whole wheat flour, garlic powder (which I know I used more than 1 tsp!), salt & pepper. Then I took each slice of tenderloin and 1 by 1, dropped them into the bag, shook them gently and removed them to a plate. I did them 1 at a time because it allowed it to get lightly coated, and not caked on. As a result, there was just enough of the flour mixture to coat the turkey, and as you can see, they were not cakey.
In the skillet, I heated the olive oil and then placed the tenderloins. All you want to do is brown them, but not necessarily cook them all the way through.

Once they’re browned on both sides, remove them to a plate and cover them with foil.

Now you’ll add the chicken broth and wine to the pan, deglazing with a whisk. Add the tomatoes, basil & lemon juice to the broth. Bring to a simmer and reduce a bit. When the sauce is almost done (the tomatoes are soft), add the butter and mix into the sauce. The butter serves to slightly thicken the mix, so it’s important not to skip this step in order to lower the fat content.
Place the cutlets back in and allow them to warm completely. Serve with the sauce on top.
I serve mine atop some angel hair pasta, and finish it off with some freshly grated parmesan, and it was just F A B U L O U S! Seriously.

To be honest, I have no idea what the nutritional info is on this, as I made it 2 weeks ago and didn’t run it through any program to check. I will say, though, that I didn’t have any stomach problems afterward, and that’s all that matters to me LOL
Also, this could easily be done with chicken or pork. In fact, my family all thought it was pork LOL
Enjoy!

Homemade Chicken & Dumplings

 

In the past, I’ve made chicken & dumplings, but it was a kind of cheater’s way – using canned cream of chicken soup, etc.  Today, for some reason, I woke up with the idea in my head to make chicken stew.  Once I started that, I thought wait… why not put dumplings on it! 

• 4 boneless chicken breasts, cut into chunks
• 6 cups of chicken broth
• 3 carrots, cut into 1/2” chunks
• 2 cups frozen green beans
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 1/4 cup dehydrated onions (because I can’t eat normal onions anymore :< )

Bring chicken broth to a low boil.  Add frozen vegetables and onion.  Simmer for 20 minutes.  Add chunks of chicken.  Continue to simmer for about 30 minutes.

Add 1/4” cup of your favorite thickening agent (corn starch, flour, etc.)) and water – Whisk well, and add to chicken soup.  Stir while it thickens.

Open can of crescent rolls.  do not unroll.  Cut them into 1/4” discs.   Please crescent rounds evenly across the surface of chicken mixture.  Continue cooking on a low light for 10 –15 minutes, or until  dumplings are cooked through. 

Do you have a Yoplait kid?

I sure do.  In fact, I have 3 Yoplait kids.  My kids LOVE Yoplait for Kids yogurt.  They love Go-gurts, they love Trix Yoplait and they love the Yoplait for Kids.  They think they’re getting a yummy treat, but *I* know that they’re also getting something healthy and nutritious, something that is providing Vitamin D and calcium to help build strong bones.  THEY think it’s a snack.  I look at it as a snack with benefits!

Living in an apartment complex, my kids don’t get out and stay as active, particularly in the cold months, as I’d like them to.  But in the summer, I encourage them to get out as soon as they’re finished with their breakfasts! LOL     ANOTHER problem, though, with livingin an apartment complex is that they don’t have a lot of outdoorsy toys to play with.  The ones that they do have, mysteriously disappear if they’re left out overnight.  So imagine their excitement when they opened the box from my friends at MySpark and found THIS incredible prize pack!

The Yoplait Get Active Prize Pack includes a travel cooler (to take your yogurt on the road), a jump rope, a water bottle and an outdoor game set that includes a beach ball, paddle ball, Jai-Ali and a Frisbee, PLUS a coupon for a FREE package of my choice of Yoplait! 

   They FREAKED!

And I’ll bet the kid(s) in your life will freak when you win yours!  Yes, I have not one, not two, but THREE AWESOME Yoplait Get Active Prize Packs to give away to 3 lucky readers!

As always, I have a variety of ways for you to win!

    Leave a comment  for each of the things you decide to do:

  Blog about this giveaway.    Leave your comment WITH your url to the post.
    Tweet about this giveaway.  In your comment, be sure to include a link to your actual tweet.  You can do this once a day, every day until the end of the contest (May 3rd).

    Share this on your facebook profile!  Just click below – and of course, make sure you send me the link to that in your comment.
    Become a fan of My Tasty Space on Facebook!  Just let me know in your comment what your Facebook name is.

    Become a follower on blogger.

    Send me lots of money.   KIDDING!

  Stumble this post.  In your comment, leave your SU Name.

Leave a comment here telling me how you like to get your family to get active and have fun.   

 *This coupon offer for a free six pack of Yoplait for Kids yogurt is not valid in some states, including Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Jersey, North Dakota and Tennessee.   However, you’re still more than welcome to enter to win the rest of the prize pack!

Also, if you sign up to join my Facebook group, you’ll get a code for $1.50 coupon off Yoplait!

So, what are you waiting for? Get entering!

[This offer is valid in the US only]

[Entries without a valid email address will be deleted.]

Super Easter Dinner

Happy Easter everyone!

We typically have the standard ham dinner for Easter.  This year, however, I felt like changing it up, so I took advantage of an excellent sale and bought a 6.5 lb rib roast.  I’ve always been leery of trying to make a prime rib because they’re NOT cheap, and if I screw it up, that’s a lot of money wasted.  But last night, I went online and found a very easy, very basic recipe at  RecipeTips.com and decided to try it.  I wanted an easy dinner without tons of prep work, and without a lot of  fuss.    The prime rib recipe was exactly that.

You  take it out and let it sit on the counter until it becomes room temperature. 

You sprinkle salt & pepper all over it, rubbing it in to make sure it sticks.

You put it in the pan.

You preheat the oven to 460.

You place the roast in the oven at 450 for 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes, you reduce the heat to 325.

You bake it for 11-13 minutes per pound.  I’d figured on 2 hours.  I was mistaken LOL

After about 30 minutes or so, you place your sweet potatoes (see below) in the oven as well.    Do it quickly so as not to let the oven cool off too much.

Then after about an hour – an hour and a half (from when you put it in), check the temperature with a meat thermometer.   Depending on how well done you want the roast, you then make the decision whether it needs to stay in.  The recipe said

 

 

My meat thermometer read 160 so I took it out quickly and tented it with foil while I hurriedly made the veggies LOL

After it had sat for about 10-15 minutes, I removed the foil and sliced.

Voila!

It was tender and absolutely YUMMY!!!!!

Baked Sweet Potatoes

As easy as it sounds.  Peel your sweet potatoes.  Wrap them individually in foil.  I typically put myine on a baking sheet because the natural sugars inside the potato will come out and drip and smoke, otherwise.  I bake them while I am baking the meat – whatever I might be making.

TI baked them for approximately 1 hour, but your time will vary, depending on the oven temp.  When you unwrap them, they will be “juicy” – from the natural sugars that have been released.  I put them in a bowl, cut them up with a butter knife, sprinkle with brown sugar and then butter.

 

Finally, I also made approximately 1/2 a bag of frozen green beans.  To make those, I put  2 cups of water in a pan, along with a couple of teaspoons of chicken bouillon.  I add the green beans and bring to a boil , then  I let simmer until they are tender.

 

Oh, and can’t forget the rolls!

The best part of all of this is that it doesn’t have to be for a holiday.  Although I spent about $32 on the roast, it will easily feed 4-6 people (adults) or more with kids! 

4 for $15?

4 15.  That’s Shaw's new “thing” to entice people.  Four meals for under $15.  Not whole meals – 4 servings.  So you can feed your family of 4 for under $15.

Isn’t that big of them!

For $15, I can make 4 FULL dinners.  Because we’ve always had to live rather frugally, this new era that Americans are finding themselves in, the one in which they can’t be hitting MdD’s 4 times a week – is really nothing new to me. 

The trick, really, is to know how to shop.  You don’t buy things based on need. You buy things based on sales.  You stock up on things when they’re on sale, and then you don’t have to pay sometimes double the price when you need them.

This works particularly well with meats, although, obviously, you need a freezer large enough to accommodate good sales. 

Here’s an example:

Yesterday, I bought 1 lb of Butterball ground turkey.  It was on sale for $1.99 – it’s normally $3.99 or higher.

I would typically buy 2 or 3 of them, because I use it quite frequently.  (I didn’t this week because I have no room in my freezer.)

I also bought a pound of egg noodles that were on sale.

I went home and cooked the turkey up, with some salt & pepper.  I combined it with a jar of spaghetti sauce (Spinach & Cheese Florentine is awesome!), boiled the egg noodles, and voila.  I had a meal for way more than 4 people – for way less than $15! 

$1.99 – turkey

$1.99 – sauce

$1.29 – egg noodles

$5.27  - and enough for dinner for 5 and more than enough for lunch the next day for all of us.  So figure it, in total, fed 8 (at least).   $.65 for a meal is much more acceptable to me than $15!

I’ve already noticed that Shaw's also has boneless chicken breast on sale this week.  $1.88/lb is an excellent price, so I will buy 2 or 3 packages of it. 

There are tons of things I can make with boneless chicken breast, so I am not worried that I’ll put it in the freezer and it won’t get used.  In fact, one of the recipes I made with turkey, http://nhmom.blogspot.com/2008/12/turkey-pot-pie-with-corn-bread-stuffing.html, I will just substitute chicken for turkey with.  So figure $5 for the chicken, $1 for the box of stuffing, $1 for the gravy (if I’m feeling lazy and don’t make my own).  I got the pie crust for free with a coupon. 

Simple recipe, and delicious.  WAY less than $15.

What are some of your favorite recipes that are budget conscious?

Honey Kix Review + Giveaway! [closed]

My kids love cereal. Of course, they REALLY love sugar cereal, but I buy it so infrequently, they have learned to like pretty much anything. There are a few exceptions. Those cereals that are really plain looking tend to get me the hems and haws if I try to even SUGGEST that they eat it for breakfast. So when I opened the box of Honey Kix and gave it to them, I figured I’d get the same ‘tude. But I didn’t! They didn’t even ask for the sugar jar. Honey Kix has all the goodness of Kix® cereal but now with a touch of honey! Honey Kix is a good source of fiber, calcium and vitamin D, contains 16 grams of whole grain per serving (at least 48 grams recommended daily) and has no artificial flavors or preservatives. A perfect balance of taste and nutrition through simple ingredients, which both moms and kids can agree on!

If you would like to try the new Honey Kix, I have a great giveaway for you!

You will receive a coupon for a free box of Honey Kix, the cereal container, Kix cereal bowl, insulated on-the-go cereal container and an ADORABLE honey pot! Just leave a comment telling me what your favorite cereal is. No, not your kids – YOURS. :)

I have THREE of these packs to give away – and I’ll draw a winner this Monday, the 30th.

And a reminder - if you do not leave your email address, and only comment as "anonymous", your entry will be discarded. Thanks.

Happy New Year!

Wow - I can't believe it's been so long. Here's my excuse explanation.

My hubby lost his job in November. Although I did post for Christmas, I really haven't been feeling it. That's putting it mildly. Fortunately, we were able to qualify for state assistance, so we've actually had WAY too much food - but I really haven't felt too much like cooking anything particularly original or worth sharing. I will try, though. :)